Joe Philbin transcript: 'Ask Matt Flynn why he's in Seattle'

March 27, 2012

Here is a team-released transcript of Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin's sitdown with the media on Tuesday:

(On being involve with the CBA, contract disputes, and so on as a head coach) - “It’s good to have a broad exposure to it. I’m not into the nitty-gritty and all of the details, but obviously Dawn Aponte does a great job. She’s extremely knowledgeable. She’s worked with the league office. She’s about as knowledgeable as anybody that you could have in that position. And Jeff (Ireland) obviously deals with that on a daily basis as well. I think we have two people in the building that have vast knowledge so I don’t think they need me necessarily to get in their way. It’s also good to have a general understanding of some of the basic principles.”

(On having Mike Sherman on your coaching staff) - “It’s been great. We had our meeting the coordinators and myself met on Friday right before we kind of gave them some time off during the owner’s meeting. We went over our practice schedules for the voluntary minicamp that we’re putting in place. And Mike (Sherman) had a lot of great suggestions and a lot of things that I kind of had planned out the whole camp, but they made a couple of adjustments, Kevin (Coyle) as well. And when you have guys that have been coaching veterans, head coaches, Mike’s got 10 years of head coaching experience. Kevin has been in the league for 11 years so it’s been good that way.”

(On being a head coach been overwhelming or embracing) - “It’s been great. I think the number one challenge to me when I accepted the position as the head coach here was identifying, and then recruiting, and acquiring excellent coaching staff. I can tell you that is the number one place I started in determines of my confidence level and comfort level is with the men I’ve been able to assemble as a coaching staff. Again, I’ve known Mike Sherman for 32 years. He’s proven. He’s an excellent offensive football coach. He was an excellent head football coach in the NFL and did a great job at Texas A&M as well. I’ve known Kevin Coyle since 1986. I have a lot of confidence in him. Darren Rizzi, I’ve known for awhile. Obviously, we finished second in the league in special teams. I think it’s a great place to start with our three coordinators. I think we have a real nice blend of experienced guys, young guys, and hungry guys. Guys that want to prove themselves. A lot of them have kind of come up the way I came up in terms of earning their way into the NFL. Not necessarily handed some jobs. So far, so good, as I said before I’m 0-1. I bought a much bigger house than I needed, but other than that I’m excited.”

(On bringing in the right players you want from free agency) - “Yeah, when we entered free agency, when we entered the offseason, we identified some priorities in terms of positions we felt that needed to be upgraded whether it would be free agency, the draft, college free agency somehow, someway. Just like the college recruiting process you identify some prospects. You go after them. People make decisions for a variety of reasons and we’re happy that Paul Soliai decided to resign back with us. We identified the cornerback position as one that was important. We’re excited about Richard Marshall, I think he’s going to add something. Artis Hicks is a veteran that we think is going to give us some versatility in the offensive line. David Garrard came in and had an excellent workout. Obviously, some players made decision to go elsewhere in the course of our meetings when they were here with us I thought we had productive, excellent meetings. And sometimes those things work out and sometimes both parties have to want to dance. Those things happen.”

(On any areas that concern you right now) - “I’m concern about everything, but I think it’s important that we get on the field with these guys in the offseason program to have a better hand. We’ve watched a lot of tape. We’ve identified some areas that need to get better and I’m confident that we’ll do that. But when I came for the interview one of the things I told Steve (Stephen Ross) and Jeff (Ireland) was there been a ton of focus and I mentioned it to you guys as well, on the quarterback position as it should be in this league and my feeling as I watched the tape the offensive line needs to get better if our quarterback position is going to play better and so that’s going to be a priority. And we have to make sure that happens as we move forward.”